Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 10-16-18

White House and Political News
Trump Administration To
Trump Calls On Blacks To ‘Honor’
Shut Obamacare Site During
Republicans With Votes, Then Praises
Open Enrollment Stage
Confederate General Robert E. Lee
The Trump administration is planning to take down the ObamaCare website for hours at a time during the open enrollment period, The Hill is reporting.
The administration has ar- gued that such downtime oc- curs regularly on the site and is designed to happen during slower periods. Critics have said it is an attempt to trip up coverage provided through the Affordable Care Act, known as ObamaCare.
Healthcare.gov will go of- fline every Sunday from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. for five Sundays to- taling 60 hours, the same as last year, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Serv- ices (CMS) told The Hill. The agency told the news organiza- tion that the site experienced 53.5 hours of maintenance
LEBANON, Ohio — Pres- ident Trump praised the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee while asking African American voters to “honor us” by voting Republican at an Ohio rally that featured an unexpected and provocative monologue on America’s Civil War history.
Addressing an open-air rally of around 4,000 sup- porters, Trump appeared buoyant as he declared that Lee was a “true great fighter” and “great general.” He also said President Abraham Lincoln once had a “phobia” of the Southern general, whose support of slavery has made his legacy a heavily contested and divisive issue.
The comments came dur- ing an anecdote about Ohio- born President Ulysses S. Grant’s alleged drinking problems. “So Robert E. Lee was a great general. And Abraham Lincoln devel- oped a phobia. He couldn’t beat Robert E. Lee,” Trump said. “Robert E. Lee was winning battle after battle after battle.”
“And Abraham Lincoln came home, he said, ‘I can’t beat Robert E. Lee,’ Trump said. “They said to
U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, the Republican nominee for U.S. Sen- ate in Ohio (left) shakes hands with President Trump at a rally in Lebanon, Ohio, on Friday. During the rally in Lebanon, Ohio, President Trump praised the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as a “true great fighter.”
downtime at the end of 2016, when Obama was president. Open enrollment for 2019 cov- erage runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.
“CMS is clearly at pains to provide assurances of its be- nign intent in this maintenance schedule,” Eliot Fishman, senior director of health policy at the advocacy group Families USA, told The Hill.
Lincoln, ‘You can’t use him anymore, he’s an alcoholic.’ And Lincoln said, ‘I don’t care if he’s an alcoholic, frankly, give me six or seven more just like him.’ He started to win.”
Minutes earlier, Trump had hailed African American unemployment numbers and asked black voters to “honor us” by voting Republican in November. “Get away from the Democrats,” he told them. “Think of it: We have the best numbers in history. . .. I think we’re going to get the African American vote, and it’s true.” He also cele- brated hip-hop artist Kanye
West’s visit to the Oval Of- fice on Thursday, adding: “What he did was pretty amazing.”
Trump’s speech threat- ened to reignite a highly divi- sive debate over America’s racial history with just weeks to go until the midterms. Trump has previously de- fended statues commemorat- ing Confederate leaders, tweeting last year: “Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monu- ments.” Critics say such stat- ues glorify historical advocates of slavery.
Black Neighborhoods Don’t Match Up To Pres. Trump Boasts
Trump Unsure Whether Mattis Will Leave, Says He Is ‘Sort Of A Democrat’
PHILADELPHIA— It’s one of President Donald Trump’s favorite talking points in promoting his ad- ministration’s success: the record low rate of black unem- ployment. But on a recent sunny afternoon in Vernon Park in Philadelphia’s Ger- mantown neighborhood, that victory seemed hollow.
As children laughed on the playground, several black men — some out of work, others homeless — sat or slept on benches nearby. Similar scenes play out across Amer- ica and are backed by data that counter the positive picture Trump often paints in cam- paign-style rallies before largely white audiences.
When asked what he makes of Trump’s claim that black Americans are faring better under his administration, con- struction company owner and Germantown resident Carl- ton Washington replied, “Where at? Calabasas?”
The retort was a reference to controversial rapper Kanye West, who had lunch with Trump at the White House on Thursday af- ternoon. Over roasted chicken, fingerling potatoes and sauteed asparagus, the two discussed crime in Chicago, more possible presi- dential pardons, job creation and the black unemployment rate.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unem-
ployment rate for black Amer- icans in September was 6 per- cent. That’s down from a high of 21.2 percent in January 1983, but is still nearly double the overall national unem- ployment rate of 3.7 percent. The unemployment rate belies the on-the-ground reality for many African-Americans, ac- cording to experts.
“The rates are improving. There’s a question of whether his policies created that im- provement,” said Andre Perry of the Brookings Insti- tution, whose research focuses on black communities. “My question is: What kind of jobs are people working in?”
While black employment may have improved, that has- n’t translated into broader economic gains.
That’s partly because African-Americans are still disproportionately toiling in lower-quality jobs. Black peo- ple make up roughly one-fifth of those working in temporary jobs, a figure that hasn’t changed much in the past five years, even as the economy has improved. Just 12 percent of all Americans are black.
And last year, Trump’s first in office, the income gap between whites and blacks widened slightly. The typical African-American household earned $40,258, down 0.2 percent from a year earlier, while white households saw an income gain of 2.6 percent, to $68,145.
President Trump said he is unsure whether Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will leave the administration and described him as “sort of a Democrat,” amid reports of friction between the two.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with CBS News’s “60 Minutes” that airs Sunday night. An excerpt of the interview was released Sunday morning.
“Well, I don’t know; he hasn’t told me that,” Trump said when asked whether Mattis might be leaving his position.
Trump said that he has a “very good relationship” with Mattis and that the two had lunch together “two days ago,” but the president added that “it could be that he is”
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Oct. 30, 2017.
leaving.
“I think he’s sort of a De-
mocrat, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said. “But General Mattis is a good
guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. That’s Washington.”
PAGE 6 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018